As I write this post, I’m back from a trip to Washington, DC with my wife and son.
We spent three days in DC, then drove to Virginia for a visit with my daughter (who graduates in December!)
In that time we toured the White House, saw the Air and Space Museum, visited the National Zoo, ate at Pi Pizza with some blogging friends, toured the Capitol, visited Appomattox (where we learned the difference between “Court House” and “Courthouse”), toured Montpelier, and drove a gazillion miles around the entire state of Virginia.
It was a busy six days — exhausting but very fun as well.
In addition to all of this we made time for the Hilton timeshare presentation that I’ve written about in Our Latest Timeshare Adventure as well as Dear Hilton Hotels, This 15-Year Customer is Done with You.
Since I had talked about the plans on the site I thought it was only appropriate that I share how the experience went.
Summary: It was better than I expected in some ways and what I expected in others. 🙂
Visiting Hilton Grand Vacations
As noted in the first post above, we paid a fee and were allowed to stay in a Hilton Hotel at a discounted rate. We agreed to listen to their timeshare presentation as well (plus we got some points).
We only had a couple choices in the DC area, and we picked The Madison.
It was a swanky hotel and I’m sure quite expensive (the site lists nightly costs as $250 to $300 or so — what we paid, but we got three nights instead of one), but I wouldn’t say it was anything special. It wasn’t really that much different in room quality from a lower-end Hilton hotel IMO. That said, it was in DC, so that alone was why it was so pricey.
Our timeshare meeting was officially with Hilton Grand Vacations and was held at the Embassy Suites in DC.
They had a location that looked similar to an airline lounge at an airport (in both appearance and size). It was in the back of the Embassy Suites on the ground floor.
We walked in the offices, were greeted, gave our info, and sat down to wait (we arrived a bit early). My wife had time for a muffin before we met our sales person.
He was a very nice young man and greeted us warmly. He then led us back to his desk and we began to chat.
I started the meeting by noting we had been promised that the presentation would last no longer than two hours. I told him I was setting my phone’s timer just to keep us on track (which I did at his desk for us all to see). He was fine with this idea and reiterated that two hours would be enough time.
The Sales Pitch
I’m sure none of you wants to read the blow-by-blow of what happened, so I’ll simply hit the highlights:
- We started by chatting for 10-15 minutes. He asked about how we vacationed, what we looked for, what we liked, etc.
- We also talked money, of course. He wanted to know what we spent on travel accommodations. I had expected this because in every timeshare presentation I’ve ever been in, they always use that information to sell you later (i.e. “You’re not spending any more money, just reallocating it.”)
- He then explained the program. There are lots of moving parts but basically you buy a deeded interest in a timeshare and get so many points for that purchase. You then spend those points on stays at various Hilton properties or partner sites as available.
- The points per stay costs vary by time of year with the most in-demand dates being more expensive. So depending on when you wanted to go, your points could cover a few nights or many. I’m not sure about location impact on cost (if there are different points for DC versus Hawaii), but I would guess that there are.
- The costs to buy into the program include the initial purchase (one-time cost) as well as annual HOA fees and admin fees depending on the choices you made.
- He didn’t share the costs during his presentation. He just shared the specifics of what the program offered. I’m sure the intention was to get us so excited about the offering that when we saw the price we were already sold.
- We toured a room in the hotel that was part of the program (Hilton is converting some of their hotel rooms to larger rooms and this Embassy Suites had several). He showed us a one-bedroom place which was “fine” but wasn’t really that much more than a suite room at a hotel. It was not that impressive. I’ve stayed in hotel suites that were nicer. This was a surprise as you would think they’d want to show us something to knock our socks off.
- In addition, there wasn’t much difference between staying in this unit and a regular hotel room. Sure, it had a bit more room, but the location was exactly the same and I knew the cost would be much higher. So what was the real benefit?
- After the tour we went back to his desk and his manager came in. This was the guy meant to sell us. The manager gave us the price: $37,726.64 for the partial ownership deed and closing costs, $366 for a one-time activation fee, and $1,569.17 for annual HOA and club dues.
At this point we were about 90 minutes into our time together.
Getting to No
During the presentation I had kept an open mind (as much as I could — the fact that they hid the price from me until well into our time together was a sure sign that I would likely not consider it a “deal”). If they had wowed me, who knows what would have happened?
But the presentation, the cost, and the unit itself added up to one big, fat “no”.
Knowing they had answers for almost any objection I would raise, I locked on to one I knew they had no answer for: the required deed for partial ownership.
I told them that I owned all my real estate free and clear. It was 100% mine and it was my policy to own all property in this way (which it is).
I told them I did not want partial ownership as I then was paying money for something over which I had no control.
They tried to convince me that I did have control, but their effort was half-hearted. It was clear to everyone that what I was saying was both true and made sense.
We chatted back and forth a bit (there was no hard sell and nothing tense about our conversation — much different than what I expected) and we all got to a “no” pretty quickly.
So Far, So Good
I must say that up to this point, the conversation was very cordial.
They presented, we listened, we chatted, and when we said “no”, they pretty much accepted it.
I had expected them to put us under hot lights and pull out our finger nails, but nothing like that happened.
Overall, I would say the presentation was much better than what I had imagined it would be going in.
I was starting to think better of Hilton as the time went on.
Then it went sideways a bit…
Customer Service
Once the two guys saw that we weren’t going to buy they said they wanted a customer service person to come in to rate our experience.
I was a bit suspicious as I know how companies are — they go for the sale multiple times.
When the gentleman came in and started asking us to rate various parts of the presentation on a scale of 1 to 5, I castigated myself for being so skeptical.
Then the conversation started to turn.
Our guy stopped asking us questions and stated we “clearly did not understand the program”. Not a great way to start a presentation — to insult us.
He then proceeded to tell us a series of facts about the program that we already knew — things we had learned in the proceeding presentation.
As part of his spiel he said that since 85% of people presented the program did not buy, he had a deal for us.
He started outlining his offer, again going through details we knew (where they had properties, how the program worked, etc.)
I was getting frustrated at this point since he was simply reiterating what we knew. If he had new information I was there to hear that, but I didn’t need a re-hashing of what we’d just heard.
Instead of letting him go on, I said, “Hey, Jim (not his real name), we’ve already heard this. Also, we were told that this presentation would be over in two hours.”
I then got out my phone and showed him the timer. It was at 1:57. I said, “You have three minutes to tell us whatever you want but we’re done after that.”
He got upset at this point and said, “You don’t even know what I was going to say. This meeting is over.”
Great! That’s just the result we wanted!
He stood up and walked us to the front desk, not even saying goodbye as we got there (he simply walked on while we stopped to “check out”).
We received our $200 credit voucher for a stay at a Hilton property (in the next six months) and left.
Overall Impressions
Here are some general impressions from our two hours with Hilton Grand Vacations:
- The tone was much better than I expected. I know I’ve said this a couple times, but it bears repeating. Once we said no, they took it as that except for the last guy.
- The last guy left a bad taste in our mouths, but that’s what some of these folks are like. Too bad they didn’t ask us to rate him.
- I find it interesting that 15% of the people become buyers. I’m wondering if that’s a real number or an inflated one. Seems high to me based on the presentation we received.
- Almost $40k seems like a lot of money to lock into a program you’ve heard about for a couple hours. I can’t believe so many people sign up for that much so quickly.
- Overall, the whole thing wasn’t a really great deal for us. Yes, they gave us some points, a discounted stay, and a $200 voucher, but the hassle (detailed in the second post noted above) wasn’t worth it IMO. We won’t be doing it again.
So, what do you think about it? Any questions?
I’d especially like to hear from people who own one of these places (or a similar one).
Why did you buy it? And what do you think of it after you’ve had it a while?
AJohn2 says
At least you got your gift. I endured 3 hours of high pressure sales at the Planet Hollywood in Vegas 10 years ago and didn’t even get my gift!
To be fair, I had no intention of buying and I was part of a group that used the promotion to stay in Vegas for cheap. We made a game of seeing who could get the best quote and salesman went from 30k all the way down to 8k.
They almost had me at 8k but my saving grace was my GF at the time wasn’t there and I said I couldn’t make a decision like that without her input. Thankfully she wasn’t reachable by phone!
Before the timeshare salespeople here get too mad, someone in our group did buy one. In fact the organizer of our trip had one too. So do my parents but through a large hotel chain. I can see *some* value to owning a timeshare but much prefer being the close friend or family to someone else that owns a timeshare because they invariably can’t use it every year.
Joe Dickerson says
We have owned with Hilton Vacation the last 12 years and it has been well worth it. The sales piece is the only downside.
We bought in to Hilton Grand Vacation club which is very different from the By Hilton program you wrote about.
Typically By Hilton properties have a higher cost, higher maintenance fees and are meant to be interchangeable with other By Hilton properties (currently in NYC but expanding).
Points with by Hilton can be used in HGVC Program but is not cost effective as HGVC Points cost less than By Hilton points (both to purchase and Maintenance fees)
We own a good number of HGVC properties and are quit happy with them.
This year we bought Hilton Club in NYC which is more similar to By Hilton Program. Hilton Club is more for people making multiple trips to NYC. Hilton Club does cost more to purchase with higher maintenance fees.
Hilton program is great for using points to travel to many different destinations and know you will have a quality stay.
Z Nolet says
I too can not understand the negative reviews I am reading as my experience has been quite the opposite. I own a HGV in Carlsbad Marbrisa and one in Porto Vallarta. Super happy with HGV. One has to listen and understand how to utilize the benefits offered… that’s the secret! Have realistic apprehension but utilize the system and enjoy your vacations in style & comfort.
Todd says
My wife and I are also HGV owners and yes the sales guy at the end is a bit of a tool. However we also love it and plan on buying more before we retire.
Jane says
I will sell you my 3400 points.
Lisa Swanson says
I will sell you my 5000 points ownership
Linda says
I own a HGVC managed timeshare in Marco Island, fixed week, high rise unit on the beach in March, 7000 points. Last year for the first time ever we couldn’t get there so I decided to join HGVC, bank our points, thinking it would be great to have the opportunity to visit other locations at a later time. I totally regret that decision… there are so few options, especially for a resort comparable to ours in Marco – sleeps 6, on a beautiful beach, prime season! And the few comparable locations (like Barbados) it’s impossible to get for the dates we’d want. And you can’t book online… you have to CALL and “ask what’s available”… no wait lists. Waste of my time!! And if the points are over 7000, they don’t let you pay the difference (or use Hilton Honors points). You simply can’t go. The phone # to call says “call back during business hours” and then hangs up on you… but DOESNT TELL YOU WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS HOURS! And now I’m told I have to use the points by 12/31/20, or we lose them!! Or I can PAY MORE $$ to deposit to RCI, which are less desirable resorts, to give me 2 more years of headaches trying to find a comparable unit in a place we like that might or might not be available. Simply awful. I’m still trying to figure out a place to use our points by December and then I’m cancelling the membership. And BTW, it’s of NO ADVANTAGE to be a Hilton Honors Diamond member (which I am), as the points can’t be used at all and there’s certainly no advantage in getting any better service. Very disappointing and frustrating. I’m going to look at Marriott Vacations program, I’ve heard good things.
MICHAEL J SCHIERBERL says
I’m the exact opposite. Cannot believe anyone likes this at all. It’s the only item/thing/noun a person can buy and can’t return. You’re stuck with it. Doesn’t matter why, in this country if you don’t like what you bought, you return it. HGV will not even entertain the concept. We blew $18K on this scam and have one week in a property in Italy to show for it. That was 3 yrs ago. I have never hated anything or anyone more than HGV.
Vincent says
My wife was already an elite member of HGV when we meet .you can buy points in the private sector cheep because there are always people who need to sell and the points have no value in the real world .that would be my recommendation if
you are interested in Hilton .The only draw back if you buy points on the private
market you cannot get elite status. Time shares are difficult to get out of but
there are legal ways .Again I would buy points on the private market,there are
legitimate brokers who handle these transactions for a 15% commission.
Goutam says
I am interested in buying points too. Please let me know how I can reach
Bruce says
Do you get less overall HGV points/dollar when purchasing the Hilton Club in NYC
Corrie Besaw says
I too have been extremely happy with our ownership with HGVC. We bought in Hawaii 15 years ago and also own in Vegas. Makes no difference, as you can stay ANYWHERE, ANYTIME as long as you have the points.
I usually wait until the last minute and I call the Elite Desk and they get us all set up..We have used our points for rental cars, airline tickets…whatever!
They treat you like family when we’re there and the customer service is extraordinary.
The best thing we have ever done, as we pay aprox a grand a year for maintenance..We never have a costly place to stay.
Mario Renzella says
Hi Joe I’m with you on this one we bought in HGVC in Waikiki we at the top Elite Diamond member and club points can be used at other Hilton resorts that we have done also the fact you can convert Club points into Hilton Honors or RCI .
My Wife and I thought about it for quite a while before purchasing at the Grand Waikikian Tower , Lagoon Tower and Elara in Las Vegas , it suits us and our family not only for now but in the long term future for our growing family to leave for then to use . Buying one outright is not something that every can afford . The fact that points can be used either club level or Hilton Honors or RCI . We use it every year since purchased in 2013
Big DC says
I’m an HGVC member and it is a calculated decision. I made my first purchase in Orlando then later upgrade to NYC and then again to Las Vegas. I’m in for $80K at this point and I’ll never get that value back. I’ve been through several presentations and they are exactly as you described though not always ending with a butthole. I love the properties, Carlsbad Ca, wiki, Orlando, NYC I’ve stayed at a bunch and the HGVC properties I’ve visited are nothing at all like any hotel properties except W 57th in NYC but even then its extremely nice. I travel often and take my family with me, its been nice taking the kids around the country and staying at resorts that would cost $500-$1200 per stay and I pay $49. I often gift points as well, I was able to gift my sister 1 week 2 bdrm stay in wiki and at the same time I had a 2 bdrm for 1 week, afterwards me and the family went to Big island for an additional week in a 3 bedroom condo through RCI. Total for all 3 rooms totalling 3 weeks was $400. So if you travel frequently and want to show your family the rooftop owners retreat overlooking Manhattan for $49 each stay there’s some value in it. Probably not $85k. I did that so when I’m dead and gone the kids can continue to enjoy that lifestyle. That’s when the savings comes in after 50-60 years of traveling. I would advice you not to buy from HGVC you can find HGVC properties for sell allover at deep discounts. Also i continue to go to the presentations but $200 voucher is not worth it. In vegas you get the voucher, discounted stay. Bonus points for additional stays and deeply discounted show tickets. For that deal I go to the presentations frequently but I’m just recouping my investment and I tell them that at the beginning they just try anyway.
The Physician Philosopher says
That 15% number surprised me until I thought about the number of doctors who buy a whole life insurance policy (when <1% could actually benefit from one compared to the available alternatives). And those whole life policies cost the people who buy then $10,000-$40,000 in annual premiums. Each year.
It is human to want to "get in on a good deal." Everyone wants to feel like they are getting something special that others just haven't thought hard enough about. It's the same reason that people invest in individual stocks – our brains are wired for this sort of stuff.
I like your tactic of setting the expectations clearly from the onset of the meetings. This showed some of your business savvy, and I'll openly admit that I am going to steal that playing card from you if a situation like this ever arises for us 🙂
TPP
Robin says
Had a similar experience though found all the people I encountered to be pleasant and accepted our no’s with dignity and grace. Actually the pitch sounded like a reasonable deal to me however I just didn’t want to spend that much money at the time. What I found unacceptable was the hotel the company had us stay in and the inconvenience of it’s location and that of the meeting location. During that trip used Uber for the first and had to use it multiple times to get around. I agreed to listen to the pitch after getting offered cruise and stay in Ft. Lauderdale for dirt cheap – the hotel lived up to that price point. Said I would not sit through another timeshare presentation regardless of what’s being offered.
Marc says
My wife and I own a timeshare with Wyndham. We bought it about 8 years ago and we paid around $9,000 for it. I have a love/hate relationship with it, although my wife likes it more than I do. The resorts are very nice (most of them) and it’s great to have a condo-style unit rather than just a hotel room. We have two young kids, so having separate bedrooms, a full kitchen, and a living room is a huge upgrade over a simple hotel room. Without the timeshare I doubt we would be willing to spend the money to rent a comparable unit.
The part I don’t like is dealing with Wyndham. The sales pitches never end. Every time we go to a resort they try to convince us to go to a breakfast, a lunch, or some other event. It’s supposed to be informative and not a sales pitch, but they always wind up being a bad experience in some way. After many bad experiences I always say no when they offer us money to attend one of these events, and they always act like you’re crazy for not wanting to do it. They don’t take no for an answer and keep pestering you about it.
So in general, I love the resorts and having a great place to stay, but dealing with the company is pretty miserable.
ESI says
So I’m interested in this (and I’ll ask others below too), what do you see as the advantages of your timeshare/why do you like it?
Does it save you money somehow?
Does it make planning a vacation easier?
Does it offer advantages you can’t get elsewhere?
Is it something else?
Marc says
What I like:
– We can stay in a lot of different places, not just the same location every year.
– The units are generally nice and well-maintained.
-The resorts typically include a bedroom (or several), a full kitchen, and a living room. If we were to book a place privately I doubt I would want to pay for a unit the same size, because it would be pretty expensive.
From my experience, the timeshare can be worth the price if you use it. I work online so we also have flexibility to avoid weekends (most of the time) and a lot of times we travel off peak, so our points go a long way.
Although there are things I like about it, I honestly wouldn’t recommend it because I hate dealing with the company.
I don’t know that it saves us money, but it gives us a nicer place to stay than we would get on our own.
I don’t think it makes planning any easier or harder, except that you do have to plan in advance because it’s not uncommon for it to fill up.
ESI says
So this is where I’m not making the connection…why it’s worth it.
You list:
– We can stay in a lot of different places, not just the same location every year.
– The units are generally nice and well-maintained.
-The resorts typically include a bedroom (or several), a full kitchen, and a living room. If we were to book a place privately I doubt I would want to pay for a unit the same size, because it would be pretty expensive.
AirBnB places offer all the same as these, usually a better price (in my experience), the flexibility to go or not when you want, no on-going fees, etc.
For instance, we saved a ton of money and got a much better place in Grand Cayman versus a condo (or even a hotel room for that matter).
So I’m still trying to understand…
Marc says
First of all, I’m not trying to justify it and say it’s a great deal. I have very mixed opinions on it. Just trying to answer your question as to what I like about it.
When we bought the timeshare Airbnb was like a year old and not very well known. The industry has changed a lot since then.
My experience with Airbnb is very mixed. We get a more consistent experience (as far as the quality and cleanliness of the units) at Wyndham.
ESI says
And I’m not trying to badger either — just want to understand under what circumstances it might be worth it.
There’s a comment below that gets a bit more to this point.
Maybe there’s a post here: “Why a Timeshare is Worth It”. 🙂
JeffB says
Back in 2001 when we bought our timeshare in Lake Tahoe, there was no Airbnb or many other sites. We only paid $10,000 for an every other year points system. We have never had a problem getting the condo over xmas, but at this point, I wouldn’t be sad to get rid of it. We have used it in Germany and Canada and Vegas, but the properties have been mostly 6 out of 10. The system is always difficult to find properties available to use. At this point in the world, I don’t know why anyone would get locked down in a time share they basically can’t resell.
Ann says
I work for them and I couldn’t agree more. They want you to keep upgrading till you have a million points and they make a killing off you.
Xrayvsn says
Thank you for sharing what it is like to go through one of these presentations. I have seen timeshare offers that allow you a lot of freebies if you attend but I have always shied away from that because I hate being in what I thought would be a high pressure sales tactic.
So based on this, would you go into another presentation to get the extras offered for spending 2 hours with them?
Dr. Cory Fawcett wrote a couple of pieces on timeshares that sort of changed my mind about them (I was anti-time share mentality). But you really have to make use of it and have the free time to do so (which retiring early like he did afforded him the ability to). Of course he recommended that you don’t buy directly from the company but on a secondary market when the original purchasers find out it was a financial anchor and they were not making use of it, selling them at a deep discount.
ESI says
As I said at the end, we won’t be doing it again.
Kim B says
My husband and I just bought into HGVC.
We went a year ago and stayed in Vegas for a week and had to sit in on the presentation. At the time, we had kids graduating college and didn’t feel that we could commit and purchase a property.
We did “lock” in our price quotes for 18 months and bought a vacation to either Hawaii, Orlando, Vegas, NYC or Myrtle Beach.
We paid the trip off and chose to go to Hawaii. We literally just got home today after 8 wonderful days.
We didn’t have to sit through the entire presentation again – only the video. Our agent was FANTASTIC!
I wanted to go for a higher point plan and he talked us (well, me) our of it. He said that he didn’t want to over-sell us and if we felt that we needed more points down the line then we could buy more.
We got close to 10K in bonus points and got our’s for last year’s prices. Also, Vegas tried to over-sell us which is one of the reasons that we got so many bonus points.
Our agent also sold us our timeshare in Orlando so that our HOA would be at the lowest rate possible and we went with points every other year.
We’ve already decided to use the points towards an Alaskan cruise and another trip to Hawaii.
We stayed at the Grand WKikian and it was absolutely wonderful.
We are excited about all of the places that we can visit in the future and we don’t have to worry about lodging costs up front.
Susan says
I would NEVER do it again. $33k later…. I am stuck. $1350 maintenance fees and taxes annually. I will say the amnenities sold me. All properties are well appointed and beautiful. I’ve too much invested to try and get out from under the responsibility. The plus is+++ its paid for. When I die, my sons can vacation with my timeshare by splitting the annual fees. The deed is forever and can be passed on from generation to generation. Also Hilton Grand Vacation points give you choices of resorts Worldwide. And, HGV is in partnership with RCI and Hilton Honors to provide thousands of options worldwide. I hate that it costs so much, but now that I have it I force myself to use the points each year. If you don’t make time to use the pints, you either pay more money to save them for the following year or lose them. Rant over. And yes!!! It was VERY HIGH PRESSURE
Monica says
My husband and I went through the Hiltin Grand presentation in Orlando. Unlike your hotel experience, ours was fabulous! 5 days in 2BR/2BA villa with hubby & 2 kids (19 & 24) for $199 was a steal. I figured giving Hilton 90 minutes of a day in exchange wouldn’t be so bad. And, honestly, it wasn’t. But we were not in a position to purchase anything, at the time (which I knew going in), and the only way we would have purchased anything was if it were free!
After 3 additional sales pitches (cloaked as customer satisfaction ratings), we received the $200 voucher for our time.
Check the fine print of your voucher. Mine could only be applied to ONE night’s room rate (found a hotel for $194/nt 2 hours from home), couldn’t be used at certain properties and expired after 6 months.
I also had to pay for the room in advance and submit a receipt for reimbursement of the rate up to $200. Tax was not included in the reimbursement. The $194 reimbursement was made via a prepaid Visa card mailed to me about 4 weeks after sending in the info. I definitely did not anticipate that part of the process.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I feel smarter knowing I came away with pretty much the conclusions as yours. ?
ESI says
Yes, I think our voucher has the same qualifications.
David Bell says
I have owned 2 weeks of a time share on the gulf side of Florida for 15 years. We had vacationed in this spot for 4 years in a row before we purchased and knew we liked the location. I went in and talked to the sales person and asked about pricing for the various weeks to own. I looked at a 2 bedroom condo and bought my first week without any presentation and then bought a second a few years later. This time share is a Hilton property – not a hotel.
For us living in the Midwest we enjoy a Florida beach location and have no problem staying in the same unit all these years right on the beach. The property is highly rated on trip advisor and has long time owners who take care of the property. It is wonderful.
I know every year at the same time where I will be vacationing in the sun. While this works for us, it is not for everyone. Time shares are no more than a pre paid vacation at best and clearly not any sort of an investment not to mention the high yearly maintanence fees.
Hilton has spent our maintanence money along the years to continue to upgrade the property and ownership is high and long term. (Many owners have several weeks and have owned for 30 plus years). In addition, because of the location and time of year, ( March in south Florida is very nice) the cost to purchase a new week has slightly increased over time so I could sell my interest if I wanted around what I paid for it. I can also pass along the property to my children which I will do as the memories we created over the years are priceless.
A 2 hour time share pitch sounds like a small version of hell. However, there are some real nice non hotel time shares out there with no sales pitch and transparent pricing in some nice warm locations.
ESI says
So specifically, what do you see as the advantages of your timeshare/why do you like it?
Does it save you money somehow?
Does it make planning a vacation easier?
Does it offer advantages you can’t get elsewhere?
Is it something else?
I know you list many advantages above, but couldn’t those be had by booking an Air BnB or different hotels each year? What makes the timeshare itself worth it to you?
Peter Heimgartner says
We were sold a timeshare for points to be used every other year. Sadly we are cancelling our contract before we are hooked. This is not a deal in any way, comparing specific real life scenarios, we found hotels that would cost us (contract purchase, maintenance fee, etc. fees) $2,200 over 2 years (for 3,400 points) only to get a one (1) night stay at a specific hotel we found to be available. BUT, the same room rate can be booked at a reputable online site for $490 a night. There are no perks with the club, black out dates apply also. I would have felt miserable to find out at this hotel, that the person next to me paid 75% less.
Anonymous says
1. Went into agreement eyes wide open. 19 years now
2. Never thought it as an investment. Its not.
3. HGVC.. Hilton Club / wanted vacation to be part of our portfolio
3. Can leave vacation in will to children
4. Did not want to bounce around with vacations entities.
5. Great option set and use of ownership.. cruises.. etc “interchangeability” use of points very flexible
6. Brand name didnt disappoint. Great quality and predictability
7. You have to work the plan but same goes for any vacation planning but rather do it in a known and recognizable system.
8. One goal was to work up to several weeks and go “warm” in winter during retirement. Home base notheast and didnt necessarily want to own elsewhere. Go there and leave. Come home.
It just fits for us and we can leave it to the kids.
Chuck says
Our experience is much the same as yours. We “own” two 2-bedroom units in Orlando and one of the same in Las Vegas.
We practiced say “no” before we went into the meeting. Half-way through the presentation, I told the HGVC rep to stop because we wanted to buy.
We intentionally added the two units in Orlando.
We have traveled in the us and Mexico with our family group of 19. While it’s getting more difficult to travel together as grandchildren begin to have families of their own, we use the points.
Because I now in a wheelchair, I travel less and need to bring a caregiver.
We were in Las Vegas (at Elara!) and provided half of our 2-room suite for my caregiver couple and two 1-bedroom suites for two couples traveling with us.
We use the points in less-than-full week increments to stretch the number of trips.
We give vacation stays as wedding gifts and as donations for charity auctions.
We didn’t want to buy because we liked to travel to different locations, not just one. We bought, and added to our “properties” for the same reason…we can stay at many HGVC properties, RCI and as Hilton Honors.
We are delighted owners and…. we lso don’t like the annual maintenance fees.
With annual points, the ability to p
Dan K says
Never looked in time shares and have no interest. Heard a lot of horror stories. My wife works for a a large hotel company and sometimes she gets certificates(free or cheap) to stay at these places and they still try to sell to us, although they know she is an employee of corporate. Makes me not want to use those certificates she receives.
ESI-34 says
ESI…you rich, entitled, narcissist! You were just looking for another freebie to go along with your millions! Haha…I spent the better part of the last hour reading the ‘I’m Done’ post from July and, man, those comments were very entertaining. Alas, I’m out of popcorn…
It’s very disappointing that good customer service is irrelevant and others (you in this case) are criticized for expecting it. Why is it considered ‘entitled’ to expect good service (which you sometimes even pay extra for)? I have my limits, but will always consider paying a little extra to be taken care of and treated well. I understand there are cost associated with going above and beyond and I’m ok with that. However, I feel there are many of people who just want the best deal they can find. Maybe it’s a perpetual degradation cycle…Is customer service dying? Is loyalty dying? Are they both already ‘dead’?
Consumers willingly give up loyalty at a moments notice when they find a better deal (knee-jerk reaction). Companies then respond by cutting costs and customer services to keep up. This then diminishes loyalty even further…does the cycle end?!?!
I’m torn between wishing you the best while redeeming your voucher and hoping it goes awry just so I can look forward to another very entertaining post. Good luck (as I restock my popcorn stash!).
ESI says
Haha!
Yes, I know when i get into these things that “at least there’s a good blog post in it”. 🙂
Money Beagle says
I always wonder why, when they can clearly recognize the people that have absolutely no intention of buying, they keep wasting their time. I mean, I’m sure there are people that they can tell are on the fence or could be persuaded, but it didn’t sound like you were one of them. They knew that, yet they had to keep on going. It must be a ‘requirement’.
I wonder if you could have declined to offer a customer service ‘survey’ up front or if that’s part of the requirement for them to have to provide you the voucher.
Phillip says
My wife and I attended a preso a few years back in Hawaii. Similar experience. My wife got excited but I told her to call a few brokers to see what shares were priced at in the aftermarket if she really wanted one. From my vague memory, I think we found shares as low as 1/3 the price. But by then, thankfully, her enthusiam went down. We will continue to stay at hotels.
funinthecorridor says
We have had a good experience with our Wyndham time share. We bought 15+ years ago. We chose a unit that was under construction, so it was 1/2 the price, and we had to wait a year to start using it. Since we were young and didn’t have much vacation time off from work we were ok with this! Several years later, we combined our points with my in-laws which allows us access to more points and the fancy 4 bedroom suites. We really enjoy our experiences. We have stayed in great places and resort staff is usually very nice. We have lots of food allergies so we like having a kitchen to cook in. As far as the sales pitches they send us to, we do go to find out what’s new, and pick up on some time share travel hacks from staff and other guests. We normally don’t stay too long since we bring our kids, and the staff doesn’t like antsy kids running around! Also if we don’t have all 4 owners present to sign documents, we can’t change our current ownership status. That will end the pitch pretty quickly. If you can find a really good deal from a quality company, with lots of locations, this can be a great travel option.
ESI says
So specifically, what do you see as the advantages of your timeshare/why do you like it?
Does it save you money somehow?
Does it make planning a vacation easier?
Does it offer advantages you can’t get elsewhere?
Is it something else?
I know you list many advantages above, but couldn’t those be had by booking an Air BnB or different hotels each year? What makes the timeshare itself worth it to you?
BethC. says
We’ve also had a good experience with our Hilton timeshare. I suspect that we may own in the same location as David Bell above by his description- we own on Marco Island in Florida (there are 4 HGVC timeshares there). We bought ours resale for very little and now own 3 weeks. Ours is also about 30 years old and has many longtime owners who love the place/own multiple weeks-the upkeep and management are terrific. My husband says that it is the only place that I truly relax and detach from my high-stress job. Ours is right on the Gulf, and we can hear the waves hitting the shore if we leave the screen open when we fall asleep at night. We’ve traded our weeks for time in Hilton Head, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco, New York City, Carlsbad (near San Diego), Montana, Vermont, Newport, RI and Scotland since we bought our first week 8 years ago. I used a resource called Timeshare Users Group to do research, they have a very active forum of timeshare owners who are very generous about helping others with timeshare and general travel help.
We have gone to a couple of “owner updates.” Once they hear what we paid for our weeks, they send us on our way.
ESI says
So specifically, what do you see as the advantages of your timeshare/why do you like it?
Does it save you money somehow?
Does it make planning a vacation easier?
Does it offer advantages you can’t get elsewhere?
Is it something else?
I know you list many advantages above, but couldn’t those be had by booking an Air BnB or different hotels each year? What makes the timeshare itself worth it to you?
Linda says
We own hgvc and love it. We live 3 hrs away from myrtle beach where there are 3 resorts plus we can drive to all the resorts in Florida. In 5 yrs we have books 42 times. Beautiful resorts not like a hotel. We have travelled to riveria Maya in Mexico for 3 weeks with family plus Branson Missouri. If u can’t use it don’t buy. We use it and love it. We are at Parc Soleil in Orlando as I type this. Makes us get away.
Kelly Powers says
Life is too short to sit through these. Did it once and said never again. Don’t care if there is a good deal out there, don’t care about the free nights, the thought of using my time to hear the “spiel” makes me cringe. I’ve often thought that there is some company that contracts “Timeshare salespeople” since these folks are alike.
It would be an awesome TV Reality show to have salepeople do Timeshare presentation and have them judged. Call it, “The Greatest Salesperson” or something like that.
BethC. says
Advantages:
1. I happen to love the location of our timeshare. Not many hotels on the Gulf and prices tend to be higher than what we pay for a maintenance fee because it is a popular conference destination. Air B and B would also be higher due to location on the water.
2. Forces us to plan in advance to some degree. having said that, I am also dedicated miles and points user-just got back from 7 nights in Paris and Frankfurt free roundtrip air and free hotel rooms in 3 lovely hotels.
3. We also like having a home away from home that we can use each year without the hassle of 2nd home ownership.
ESI says
Ok, so this begins to get to why it’s “worth it” IMO.
I hear:
1. Location (which can’t be obtained elsewhere)
2. Cost (better than alternatives close by)
3. Forces you to take a vacation (which might get cut otherwise)
4. Familiarity — you know what you’re going to get.
I can see how these might be reasons to buy. The cost one might be tied to specific locations because I think other options could offer more and/or cost less (at least in my experience in Grand Cayman — see above).
rcz58z says
I’ve attended several time share presentations just to get the reduced resort room rates.. including Grand Hilton on the big Island of Hawaii.. Great place.. but once they past the spiel and asking is this a great deal? NO… don’t you think you would like this? NO… is this something you could see you and your family using forever? NO, what if we were able to reduce the cost to 10k? NO, $8500? NO… Finally they get the point… I just say NO to everything they ask? That way it’s a shorter conversation.
CryptoDawg says
I took my 2 teenage sons and wife on one of these sales pitches at a nice resort in Paya del Carmen so they would understand how persuasive the sales people could be and to collect $300. I too was clear they had our undivided attention for 2 hours.
First they brought out a very pretty young sales lady. My wife wasn’t impressed.
Then they brought out a handsome young sales guy who really tried to connect with my sons. He gave us a fantastic tour or of the resort. It was a great presentation and incredibly good sales pitch and my wife was “Do you want to do this?” I said NO. Then they brought out a sales manager who tried to close the deal through reason, emotion, and guilt.
Begrudgingly they gave us the $300. The boys hopefully now know how to say NO since they still talk about it.
R.K. Mohan says
The resale market is flooded with sellers trying to unload their timeshares at a fraction of the original cost. ebay is a good place to start for anyone determined to buy a timeshare.
One item that was not discussed in the above comments is the annual HOA/maintenance fees. The fees are subject to annual increases. The fees are horrendously high and in many cases can be the same or more than the amount that may be spent on a non-timeshare stay.
On a deeded timeshare, I believe the owner is always liable for the annual fees until it is sold (which can be a very long time). So, if I understand it correctly, even if you suspend monthly payments on the purchase price you still have to fork out the annual fees.
There is an obvious reason for the high pressure sale process – financially, it is not an attractive proposition
Mayra says
My business partner and I own two timeshares. One with Disney and one with Hilton. It’s only worth it if you travel a lot and you use it every year. We live in the Midwest and travel to Disney World about 4-10 times a year (we’re annual pass holders). You get to use the points anywhere to stay on Disney property. It’s worth it for us when we go as often as we do. We have enough points to take both our families on multiple trips without having to pay for a hotel on property. The convenience of staying on property and there are some perks to being a DVC member.
We use our Hilton timeshare as hotel points as well as for resort stays. We can also convert our points to RCI but it’s not the best use of our points. We like the flexibility and guarantee of a place to stay since we frequently travel last minute. Also, there are certain perks you get with each timeshare based on your level.
If you don’t travel more than once a year for a family vacation or you have the schedule to book way in advance, then a timeshare isn’t worth it. I also wouldn’t buy a timeshare for the “perks.” We bought them for the convenience that comes with owning a timeshare. Also, it does help with customer service.
Mrt says
This was a reputation destroyer for them, I don’t think I will ever spend a dime with Hilton enterprises.
Dehumanizing process based on guilt. The first guy is so nice so you have that deep need to reciprocate and then when you don’t buy, you feel guilty.
The “survey” guy (lie) exacerbates that guilt. I bet that he says “this meeting is over” to EVERY single person who doesn’t buy and walks away.
Oh, also, the voucher has “conditions and terms”? Not surprised.
Verdict, after this, I can’t trust these guys with HOA fees or with any customer service issue in the future, why should I even consider buying? I feel slight disgust after reading this.
I am surprised these sleazy sales models are still around.
Baby Boomer Super Saver says
My husband & I attended one of these presentations many years ago. We were so young! It was very clear, however, that we could not afford to buy. When salesman #2 started to put on the pressure, he used the tactic of asking if money was not an issue, which one of several packages would we choose – thinking that we would select the less expensive option (which he could then argue was affordable). However, I took his suggestion at face value, and selected the most luxurious, expensive package (which even he could see was beyond our financial limit). He was speechless for a few minutes, then said no one had ever selected the most expensive one. I replied, but if money was not an issue, why wouldn’t I want the best one? Needless to say, we didn’t sign-up for a timeshare then, and I’m sure we never will.
I’ve been very happy with Airbnb, VRBO, and hotel accommodations during our travels.
CB says
ESI you asked several people the questions below. We own 2 timeshares and we are lucky since the maintenance dues are reasonable and we didn’t buy at full cost. We do belong to RCI which is an exchange program. There is a cost to join RCI and cost to trade our timeshare week for another. But sometimes we get lucky and I can exchange my 1 week on a beach front property for 2 weeks at another RCI condo. That is a financial benefit.
Since we are retired, flexibility with sales for 1 week condo (not a timeshare trade) is also a great benefit. I have not used Air BNB yet, have researched a few times but overwhelming some times, so that just my lack of experience. I was able to purchase a 1 week condo rental through RCI at Palm Springs for $249 and we enjoyed a vacation in a city that we might not have visited without the RCI sale.
Planning vacations are easier since my timeshare can be deposited with RCI and I have 2 years to select a trade (s). The RCI timeshare website allows me to “experiment” with dates and locations so that is a benefit to me. We have traveled to Maui, Big Island, Lake Tahoe, beach areas in USA and even overseas with the timeshare. We did buy them before the internet offered AirBNB, hotel sales, etc. But I never tell anyone that a timeshare is a must or that I recommend. Each situation is different.
******************************************************
ESI asked:
So specifically, what do you see as the advantages of your timeshare/why do you like it?
Does it save you money somehow?
Does it make planning a vacation easier?
Does it offer advantages you can’t get elsewhere?
Is it something else?
I know you list many advantages above, but couldn’t those be had by booking an Air BnB or different hotels each year? What makes the timeshare itself worth it to you?
Betty Ziegler says
I’d like to weigh in here, since I have owned several timeshares over the past 30+ years, and must say, in the days past it was an awesome opportunity. I admit the view is changing some, but the opportunities are unlimited if you know how to work with the system.
As a family, we vacationed every year — mostly at the resorts we purchased at. Once in a while we traded through RCI or Interval, but the point is that we purchased in locations where we liked to vacation, so this was money very well spent! No regrets at all.
My favorite is the Marriott plan, which is very flexible, especially now that the points feature has been added.
This past Spring my husband and I traveled from the USA to Italy and toured for 6 weeks — all on Marriott points and timeshare exchange. Our point-paid-for trip began with a 14 day transatlantic cruise from Florida to Rome, and ended with 2 business class return airfares.
So it’s not a matter of the cost, it’s how you plan to use what you purchase.
Kristy says
I just wanted to add my experience….we did get a hotel deal for listening to the time share spiel 8 years ago. I/we went into it saying NO all the way — until I compared in my head what we had spent for a one week condo rental on a recent special trip. The unit (studio/1 BR) we bought, was for an every other year stay — for 8K. Our HOA fee has stayed below $500 so far. We have had good experiences for our stays — and the best one was a trip daughter I took last spring at one of the affiliated properties, it was fabulous — and we never would have spent $$$$ for that kind of property before. The downfall has been that we are not always able to find a property available for the location we are traveling to. Thus far, we have stayed via our timeshare three times. And have some time deposited. The company did send offers last year for additional units –(quite cheap) although we don’t need additional time, a 2-3 BR unit would be nice, but it would have been at a higher HOA fee for the unit size, and not sure if we could have gotten the biannual option. When I look for available dates/properties, many times there are 2-3 BR units available– and I can always exchange for those, if the dates align, with a little more in exchange fee; still is less $$$ than committing to a whole other larger unit and time. That said, I believe we will get our use out of it over the years.
No, I wouldn’t do it again. But we are going to utilize what we have already purchased with exchanges. The only downfall – is we live in the Midwest, and there are VERY FEW within less than a 6 hour drive.
Cactus Lonesome says
I can remember at least two vacations taken with my parents where we recieve discounts if we sat through the sales pitch. It had more to do with golf than timeshares though. He never bought the timeshares… but we saw a few nice places, in exchange for listening to babble for two hours.
Chris says
This is a good description of how these time share meetings go, although I’m sorry that you had to deal with that jerk at the end. I purchased an HGV time share with Elara in Las Vegas about 2 years ago. I went for the reduced price weekend (I think that I spent $199 for 3 or 4 nights). I was definitely going to say “no” at the beginning, but their Vegas property did kind of “blow my socks off”, and I go to Vegas every year anyway so the only question was what was the right amount of points. I completely agree with you about the 15% buying 40k worth of property; I think that number is quite inflated. What they ended up offering me (after a lot of back and forth), was 10k for access to a “starter ownership”. I still have access to all of the benefits through HGV, but I only get points every 2 years (and I also only pay homeowner fees every other year). Since owning this for the last 2 years, they have taken every opportunity to upsell me to get a larger ownership, but I have declined by avoidance. When I check in, I unplug all of the in-room phones, I set their phone number to go straight to voice mail on my cell (they call every day while I’m staying at their property). So these parts are annoying, but I have really enjoyed staying at their properties. I probably used them 4-5 times now in the last 2 years (not all on points, sometimes with the “open season” discounted rates). Most of my stays were in their Vegas properties, but I also stayed at their resort in Scotland, which was awesome. And I still have points left right now that I have to use (some of the bonus points that they gave me when I signed on).
So overall, I think that I’ll be saving money in the longterm since I still go to Vegas at least once a year, and I’ve been looking into their other properties (ie. Hawaii, Portugal), so it gives me some more incentive to make plans to take vacations (at least every other year). The only real downside is that they hound me when I’m on vacation (really just happened in Vegas, not in Scotland), but I take steps to avoid them for that.
Marisa says
My husband and I did a tour of a Hilton grand vacation property while vacationing in Hawaii. We thought of purchasing at the time and then looked into resale. We found purchasing resale a much better option. Only downside is the HOA goes up every year and the cost to transfer points. We are going to sell our timeshare however after our next trip because of an experience with Hilton. I have been a Hilton honora member longer than a timeshare owner. Meaning I am/was a loyal customer until last week when Hilton felt they didn’t value my business or loyalty over $1.70. I was quoted a price by a Hilton employee then less than 24hrs later they would not honour it. I’m selling my timeshare and never staying with Hilton again. I am also posting my experience on social media
JeffB says
Good luck selling. Let us know how easy it was to get rid of it.
Josh says
Looks like there’s some confusion as to the value of purchasing with Hilton Grand Vacations. As many have said the value comes in usage but most importantly I think value is with the commodity known as time. Here’s what I mean. When you purchase a vacation package you receive a deed in perpetuity which means it’s yours forever. You get club points every year to use at gorgeous properties around the world forever! And you know what else? The cost to stay at these properties remains the same in all locations forever. You essentially have paid to freeze in time your hotel costs. No more paying hotel room tax, no need to worry about inflation price increases, no stressing about higher rates during certain times of year. The point costs remains the same from now to eternity and the same goes to whomever you will your deed to. So while people may complain because they cannot sell the timeshare for thousands more than what they got it for, like it’s a house, but is that really worth getting uptight about after you’ve traveled all over the world and have stayed in the most luxurious accommodations that money can buy? Or in knowing that after your years of traveling the world comes to an end you can simply keep it in your family by passing it on to your children, then their children, and more generations to come. For anyone who can afford a couple thousand dollars and a small annual maintenance fee for property upkeep, this program is very much worth it. Timeshare is nothing like it used to be and people really need to just listen and understand before passing judgment.
JeffB MI20 says
The main problem is you can’t sell it back to Hilton when you no longer need the condo due to family dynamics or health issues. I don’t want my parents timeshare forever, I barely like mine these days. I never expected to make money on it. But they make it next to impossible to sell it back when life happens. The old days of timeshares, you had an exact week at a place, the Marriott and Hilton model at least let’s you use the hotel portion.
Nancy Hallam says
We purchased HGVG 20 years ago upgraded 2 times, we used it alot the first 10 years but now we don’t use it. We sold some back to Hilton for pennies just so we did not have to pay maintenance fees. Now we pay the fees and don’t use it.
There is no way out. There are alot of companies promising to get you out for large up front fees but they take your money and run. They are very hard to sell.
Good product and great places and easy to trade if you use them but we now have a motorhome and 3 dogs and enjoy traveling this way
If anyone out there reading this wants to legitimate purchase 5800 HGVC points email me
Mario says
We own two HGVC timeshares.
I bought both of them through ebay for about $800 each out of pocket. Im still not sure that is worth it considering I can just pay for the nights we use through travelocity.
I cant imagine someone would pay 20k+.
Tom says
We have been HGVC members for years, and we love the program. We don’t want to own a second property, and we don’t want to travel to the same place each time we go on a trip. We looked at other programs and selected HGVC. It has provided us with great trips in wonderful places and the people have always been very nice to deal with in each meeting. Two hours?
However, we have never made it out of a presentation in two hours. We also have never been given the automatic upgrades that we expected. But, we knew what we were buying and only spent what we could afford to pay off immediately.
Owning a timeshare is not for everyone. But, it is right for some.
Debi Lamparelli says
I own one of the Hilton Vacation Clubs. My sister has owned a Disney Villa for 10+ years. We have always traveled with her and enjoyed ourselves. People have always made comments to her over the years that it was a huge waist of money. I enjoy traveling so much so I asked her about it. I asked if she was happy after 10 years of owning it or if she felt it was a huge waist of money. She said “It was the absolute best thing I ever did in life” I researched and pondered for a while and then decided that I would sit in on the 2 hour speech of what they had to offer. I decided that it fit my life and my small children’s life. We have used it for places we would have never seen without this. We make it a mission to travel and spend time together as a family. Every hotel, suite and condo we have stayed in has given us a “Wow” moment. Everything is clean and they bend over backwards to make your stay memorable. Vacationing has to be your thing in life because every time you have to pay a fee or your monthly payment, you have to be happy to do it. I’m still young, my family is still young so we will exercise this club for many years to come. People say negative things to me because they think it’s a waist of money but I’ve only had positive experiences and I feel like it’s the best thing money can buy. If you’re on the fence about it, do it. Life is too short. Take that vacation you’ve always dreamed about. Go on a vacation you would have never thought about. Take a few friends or family with you.
Debi Lamparelli says
One more little bit of info that can help you with the vacation club: I signed up for the Southwest Credit Card and the Hilton Credit Card. I pay my bills and any purchases and pay it off at the end of the month. This gives you points for free flights and hotels
Michael A Pridgen says
I own with Hilton Grand Vacations and we absolutely love it! If you don’t go on vacation then of course it doesn’t make sense but for us travelers it makes all the sense in the world! I’ve already traveled more then my ownership cost me (broken even) years ago so all my vacations for the rest of my life/kids life are “icing on the cake”. Great investment if you want to take your family and see the world!
Marcus says
Hey, my name is Marcus and me and my wife own one. We bought in California. We are still young(28/25) and bought for the future and the present. We love to travel and with it thing in yo Hilton it seemed right for us. We started low but will eventually add points to get more. We take every offer they give but don’t make the move until we are ready we have received one vip package which included a week before we became members. Then got another 3 night stay and now will have one more vip package then upgrade. We actually just paid 112 for 3 nights on our annual ownership update, which translates to them trying to upgrade you. The price you stated was high but depending on where the deed is it’s lower. Las Vegas is one of the cheapest and the most “ability” to up your points. With hoa fees being closer to 900. Can’t tell you the deed price bc it depends on what you want. So far we have loved it and we’re about to use 3400 of our 14000 points(some our bonus) in scottland until the Corona got out it’s can. We got a welcome package and it was great(if we were going still). The first sale is the hardest but ours was actually pretty easy and after that it just gets easier. Yes you are a partial owner but if you pay off your deed you have the weeks forever. So all in all we wanted to start without kids to make it easier when we have them. It lets us pay a maintenance fee once a year or monthly depending how you want and we know we can go to one or two week long vacations each year or one 4 week long every two years. It all depends on the person. This is the best we have come across as we go to many for the free incentives. They can talk my ear off and I’ll still say no unless I know I want it. Hope that helps hearing my experience.
Crystal williams says
We’ve owned with Hilton Grand Vacations since 2016, and I can tell you my friend – you dodged a bullet. The main reason we purchased was that we have an annual convention in Indianapolis we attend, and there’s actually a housing lottery to try and get a room downtown. We were assured during our presentation that while there was no timeshare property in Indy, we could convert our points each year to a Hilton Honors points to use at one of the many hotel properties in downtown Indy. What we didn’t have them check before buying is that during this convention, the rooms are roughly about 200,000 HH points per night. To put this in perspective, we’re usually able to book a room for around 30,000 points per night. Also, what they don’t tell you is that the bulk of Locations are available through RCI exchange, not Hilton directly. So now you’ve got to deal with a third-party to stay where you want. The amount of actual Hilton Grand Vacation properties is fairly small. And to top it all off, there’s no cap on annual maintenance fees. In the three years we were members, they had increased from around $700 to $1,000 per year. We truly thought we were stuck with this. For the 3,400 points we purchased, we paid around $18K. Using their financing of 18%, we’d paid about $9K interest and $2K toward the loan over three years. We finally got to the point where we saw it for what it was – something substantially more expensive than what you’d usually spend on a hotel – and wanted out. Even if you spent $1,000 a year on hotels, it would take 18 years to see any savings. AND, those 3,400 points only got us about three nights a year. All in all, a pretty crappy deal. We researched and researched trying to get out of it, and ended up finding our ownership interest was only worth maybe $2-3K. You can seriously find these on various timeshare retail sites for this price. So, we grossly overpaid. In the end, the only way out for us was to pay the principle of the balance, and Hilton agreed to pay us $2,500 to take it back. Of course, even though we contacted them on 1/7/20 and they still forced us to pay the 2020 maintenance fees, withholding them from the $2,500. Their “silver lining” was that we still got to use the 2020 points, but we had to make a reservation before our contract was canceled, and it couldn’t be changed. Our reservation was from 4/2-4/5, so given COVID-19 we’ve had to cancel that trip. Now I’m going to have to fight with them over being able to reschedule that I’m sure. Hopefully this serves as a cautionary tale to what a ripoff these timeshares are.
C says
Total scam. Don’t do it. Terrible use of money.